Handrails and means for illuminating the same



HANDRAILS AND MEANS FOR ILLUMINATING THE SAME Filed Oct. 20, 1960 Oct.9, 1962 L. R. GRENADIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. Z E W /.S E-GRENKD/ER BY W w A 7' TOZ/VE X Oct. 9, 1962 R. GRENADIER 3,057,991

HANDRAILS AND MEANS FOR ILLUMINATING THE SAME Filed 001;. 20, 1960 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTOP/VEX Oct. 9, 1962 R. GRENADIER 3,057,991

HANDRAILS AND MEANS FOR ILLUMINATING THE SAME Filed Oct. 20, 1960 3Sheets-Sheet 3 102 I I l i I Jfl' F 1 Ca. l I

INVENTOR. gag LEW/5 12. anem a/12 BY I United States Patent 3,057,991HANDRAILS AND MEANS FOR ILLUMINATING THE SAME Lewis R. Grenadier,Tenafly, N.J., assignor to Ender- Monarch Corporation, Garfield, N.J., acorporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 29, 1960, Ser. No. 63,755 21Clm'ms. (Cl. 2402) This invention relates to handrails and means forilluminating the same.

An object of this invention is to provide a highly improved structure ofthe character described, which shall serve as a handrail and as alighting unit; in which the lighting elements shall be fully enclosedand tamper-proof; which shall be easy to install and adapted to bedisassembled easily; which will accommodate fluorescent lamps of varioussizes; which may be used with supporting posts spaced apart any desireddistances, and in which the height of the handrail may be varied tosuit.

Another object of this invention is to provide a highly improvedilluminating handrail which shall comprise an elongated handrail topmember open at its underside, and to the underside of which is attachedan elongated light transmitting casing open at its upper side, with afluorescent lamp in the casing and fixed to the handrail member, andsaid handrail member providing a wire-way for wiring for the lamp.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an illuminatedhandrail construction of the character described comprising a post, aT-shaped transition open at the top and mounted on top of the post, anelongated handrail member open at its underside and disposed over thetransition and supported thereon and extending to opposite sidesthereof, V-shaped casings of light transmitting material open at the topand having the ends thereof received in the wings of the transition andclosing the undersides of the handrail member, and fluorescent lamps inthe casings and attached to the handrail member.

A further object of this invention is to provide an illuminated handrailcomprising posts supporting an elongated handrail member .which is openat its underside, and closed by casings of light transmitting material,disposed between the posts, With lamps in the casings and between theposts.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a strong, rugged andwholly enclosed illuminated handrail construction of the characterdescribed, which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy toassemble, which shall be tamper-proof, and practical and eflicient .to ahigh degree in use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in parthereinafter pointed out. a

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which thescope of invention'will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown an illustrativeembodiment of this invention.

FIG. 1 is a vertical longitudinal, cross-sectional view of anilluminated handrail construction embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial view of the structure of FIG. 1, illustrating amodified form of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an illuminated horizontal handrailconstruction embodying the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a corner illuminated handrailconstruction embodying the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a staircase illuminated handrailconstruction embodying the invention;

FIG. 7 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view taken on line 7--7 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a partial top plan view of the transition and lamp casing;

FIG. 9 is a vertical, longitudinal section through an end cap attachedto a transition;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 10--10 of FIG. 9; and

FIG. l 1 is a top view of the end cap alone. 1

Referring now in detail to the drawing, 10 designates an illuminatedhandrail construction embodying the invention. The same comprises aplurality of bases 11. Each 'base 11 comprises a square base flange 12of metal such as aluminum or bronze having a central hole 13. Extendingup from the base flange 12 is a square flange 14. Surrounding theupstanding flange 14 is a square groove 15. The base may be attached toa floor support, when concealment mounting is desired, by means of acenter bolt 11a passing through a hole in a washer 11b and screwed to anut 11c. Bolt 11a may be fastened to the floor or support on which thebase is mounted. I

Fitted on each base is a vertical square hollow post 16 of aluminum orbronze, the lower end of which telescopes with flange 14, and isreceived in square groove 15. The posts 16 may be of any suitableheight. Their lower ends may be fixed to the base 11 by screws 16ascrewed into flanges 14.

Fitted on top of each of said posts 16, is a T-shaped transition fitting20. Said transition 20 may be made as a metal casting such as aluminumor bronze. It has a lower tubular portion 21 of square cross-sectiontelescoped into the upper end of post 16 and attached thereto by means21b. At the upper end of square tubular portion 21 is a thickened squareportion 22 forming an undershoulder 23 contacting the upper end of post16. At its upper end, said transition comprises a transverse portion 24open at the top and comprising a central portion 25 from which extendoutwardly, wings 26 of U-shaped crosssection. The central portion 25 andthe inner ends of the wings have opposed portions 25a formed withvertical flat inner surfaces 27 disposed in the planes of the innersurfaces 21a of the front and rear walls of tubular portion 21. Saidcentral portion 25 has outer flat surfaces 28 extending the length ofthickened portion 22. The wings 26 each have side walls 30 and a bottomwall 31.

The inner surfaces 27 extend to outer vertical end shoulders 33 disposedsomewhat outwardly of the thickened 'portions 22. The portions 25 andwalls 30 of the wings and horizontal upper edges 37. Thus the transitionhas extra thickness between shoulders 33 and below tongues 36.

The side walls 30 of the wings are curved at their lower ends, mergingwith the curved bottom walls 31. Wings 26 have end edges 26a of U-shapedcross-section. Also, wings 26 are provided with inner transversereinforcing webs 41 located outwardly of surfaces 27, and having centrallower edges 4am from which extend upwardly and outwardly, inclined edges40b.

Between the adjacent wings 26 of adjacent transitions 20, are casings4-2 of clear or translucent milk-white or colored light transmittingmaterial, such as acrylic plastic. Each casing 42 is of uniformtransverse U-shaped crosssection, having side walls 42a and a bottomwall 42b and the ends thereof are slidably received and nested ortelescoped in the ends of the wings. Upper ends of the side walls 42aare in the planes of the tongues 36. The upper end edges 420 of the sidewalls 42a are horizontal and at the level of the upper edges 37 oftongues 36. Tamperproof set screws 45 screwed up through threadedopenings 46 in bottom walls 31 serve to contact end edges of the casings42 to prevent side movement of the casings.

The posts 16 and transitions 20 support an elongated top handrail member50 of extruded aluminum or bronze or other suitable metal. Said handrailmember 50 is symmetrical about its longitudinal, vertical mid-section.Handrail member 50 is of uniform transverse cross-section. Member 50 hasa top wall 51 from which extend downwardly curved walls 52, from whichextend downwardly and inwardly converging inclined walls 53. Extendingfrom the lower ends of walls 53 are horizontal inwardly extending walls54 resting on the upper end edges 35 of the transition. Extendingupwardly from the inner ends of walls 54 are walls 55 contacting theouter surfaces of tongues 36. Extending inwardly from the upper ends ofwalls 55, at a level spaced above the upper edges 37 of tongues 36 (andedges 420 of casings 42), are top shoulder forming webs 56, from theinner ends of which there extend downwardly, flanges 57, locatedinwardly of tongues 36 and inwardly of the side walls 42a of casing 42.The lower edges of flanges 57 are substantially at the horizontal levelof walls 54. Walls 55, 56, 57 form grooves 58 which open downwardly, andtop shoulders for the purpose hereinafter appearing. In the grooves 58,and contacting edges 37 and 420 are gaskets 60 of any suitable softmaterial such as rubber or rubber-like material.

The top wall 51 is formed at its underside with a central downwardlythickened portion 61. Extending inwardly toward each other, from thejunctures of walls '52, 53 are horizontal spaced reinforcing ribs 62.

Resting on the shoulder walls 56 above the inner ends of wings 26, aretransverse horizontal bars 65. Elongated flat head screws 66 passthrough countersunk holes 67 in bottom walls 31 of the wings and arescrewed through threaded holes 68 in said bars, to clamp saidtransitions to said handrail member. Screws 68 are located at oppositesides of thickened portions 22.

Mounted on the shoulder walls 56, outward of each wing 26, aretransverse spaced horizontal bars 70, 71. Contacting the undersides ofthe bars 65, 70, on each side of each transition, is a longitudinal wirecover extension 72, comprising a top web 72:: from which extenddownwardly, parallel side flanges 72b, located just inwardly of, butspaced from walls 57. Web 72a contacts the undersides of bars 65, 70 andis fixed thereto by screws 73.

Bars 70 are attached to the handrail member 50 by screws 74 passingthrough clearance holes in webs 72a and engaging threaded holes 75 inbars 70 and impinging the undersides of thickened top wall portions 61.Upon tightening the screws 74 against the top wall of the handrailmember, the bars 70 are clamped to walls 56 of said member, therebyattaching the wire cover extensions 72 relative to said handrail member.

Attached to the bars 71 by screws 80 are wire cover members 81 also eachhaving a top web 81a and parallel, downwardly extending side flanges81b. Also attached to the bars 71 by head screws 82 are socket platebrackets 83 to which are fixed socket plates 84 for fluorescent lamps 85attached thereto in the usual manner.

Screws 86 screwed through threaded openings 87 in bars 71, impingeagainst the thickened portions 61 of the handrail member 50 forattaching said bars, and hence the wire covers and lamps, to thehandrail member. The lamps 85 are disposed in the casings 42, below thewire covers 81. The lamps may be of various lengths. Also, there may bemore than one lamp between two posts, it being necessary to provide bars71, at the ends of each lamp together with socket plate brackets andsocket plates. The wiring for the lamps may pass through the space,chamber or wire way provided in the handrail member. The illuminationfrom the lamps passes through the light transmitting casings 42.

The wire covers 81 may be painted white at their undersides to reflectlight downwardly.

As shown in FIG. 4, the handrail member is horizontal all through. Theposts 16 may be interconnected by lower brace members 90 parallel to thehandrail member, in any suitable manner.

In FIG. 5 there is shown a corner portion of a handrail 10b. In thiscase the corner transition 20a has wings extending at right angles toone another. Also the handrail member has portions 50a at right anglesto one another.

In FIG. 6 is shown an illuminated stair handrail 10c, in which onetransition 20b has one horizontal wing and one inclined wing, andanother transition 200, has both its wings at an inclination. The upperend of the post which supports transition 200, is also inclined, toconform to the inclination of the staircase.

In FIG. 3 there is illustrated an illuminated handrail construction1011! similar to the construction of FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8, except thatfor the screws 45, there is substituted spring pressed pins 92 passingthrough holes 93 in webs and having enlarged flat heads 94 pressingagainst ends of casing 42. These spring pressed pins keep the casings 42from shifting.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, an end cap may be attached to one end of anend transition 20. Said end cap 100 has side walls 101, a bottom wall102, an upwardly and outwardly curved end wall 103. Side walls 101 haveend edges 101a, and bottom wall 102 has an end edge 1020, which abut theend edges 26a of a transiton 20. Side walls 101 have top horizontaledges 101b which contact the undersides of webs 51 of the top railmember 50 which extends beyond the transition 20 and overlaps the endcap.

End cap 100 also has an outer end closed portion 104 which has an edge106 that conforms to and contacts the outer end of handrail member 50.

Also, end cap 100 has a horizontal tongue 107 extending from end wall103 and which lies on shoulder walls 56 of the rail member 50.

Means is provided for attaching the end cap 100 to the top handrailmember 50 for closing one end of a transition. To this end there ismounted on shoulder walls 56 and adjacent the end of tongue 107, atransverse bar 110. Extending through a countersunk opening 111 inbottom wall 102, is a screw 112 screwed through a threaded open ing 113in bar 110.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an apparatus in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved, and which is welladapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and asvarious changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it isto be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. In combination, a post, a T-shaped transition mounted on the upperend of the post and having a central portion over the post and outwardlyextending wings, an elongated handrail member mounted on top of saidtransition and having portions in alignment with and disposed over thewings and extending beyond said wings, elongated light transmittingcasings at the undersides of said handrail member and on opposite sidesof said transition, in alignment with the wings and in end to endalignment with each other, and means mounted on said handrail member atthe underside thereof, to support lamps in said casings in end to endalignment.

2. The combination of claim 1, the ends of said casing being telescopedin the ends of said wings.

3. The combination of claim 2, in combination with stop means on thewings of the transition engaging the adjacent ends of said casings.

4. The combination of claim 1, in combination with means to clamp thetransition to the handrail member.

5. The combination of claim 4, in combination with wire covers mountedon said handrail members and over lamps supported by said lampsupporting means.

6. The combination of claim 5, in combination with wire cover extensionsbetween the wire covers and the middle of the transition, and means tomount said wire cover extensions on said handrail member.

7. The combination of claim 1, said means attached to the handrailmember, for supporting lamps comprising bracket plates to receive theends of said lamps.

8. In combination, an elongated handrail member having a top wall, sidewalls extending down from the top wall, and portions extending from thelower ends of said side walls, and disposed inwardly of the side wallsand projecting up from the lower ends of said side walls, and havingdownwardly opening grooves and top shoulders, a transition having sidewalls, the upper ends of which contact the lower ends of the side wallsof the handrail member, casings of light transmitting material and of U-shaped cross-section, open at the top and having their outer endstelescoped within the outer ends of said transition, and their upperends being received in said grooves, and means mounted on said handrailmember for supporting fluorescent lamps in said casings.

9. The combination of claim 8, said transition having upwardly extendingtongues projecting into said grooves, between the inner ends of saidcasings.

10. The combination of claim 8, in combination with means to attach saidtransition to said handrail member.

11. The combination of claim 8, said mounting means comprising bars onsaid shoulders, and screws screwed through threaded openings in saidbars and impinging on the underside of the top wall of said handrailmember, and means attached to said bars to support the ends of saidlamps.

12. The combination of claim 10, said means for attaching the transitionto said handrail member comprising transverse bars mounted on saidshoulders, and screws passing through openings in said transition andscrewed to said bars.

13. In combination, a base, a post mounted on the base, a transitionhaving a downwardly extending tubular portion telescoping with the upperend of the post, said transition having outwardly extendinglongitudinally aligned Wings, an elongated handrail member mounted ontop of the transition, and having portions in alignment with the wingsand extending therebeyond, said handrail member having paralleldownwardly opening grooves, casings of light transmitting material andU-shaped cross-section having their ends telescoping with said wings andhaving upper ends received in said grooves, and means on said handrailmember to mount lamps located in said casings.

14. The combination of claim 13, said handrail member having elongatedshoulders above said grooves, said mounting means comprising transversebars on said shoulders, screws screwed to said bars and impinged theunderside of the handrail member, and means on said bars to support theends of said lamps.

15. The combination of claim 14, in combination with means to mount onsaid bars, wire covers overlying lamps supported by said lamp supportingmeans.

16. The combination of claim 13, said handrail member having anelongated chamber at its underside adapted to receive wiring for saidlamp.

17. An illuminated handrail comprising an elongated top handrail memberhaving a top Wall and downwardly extending side walls, spaced membershaving bottom walls and upwardly extending side walls, disposed at theunderside of said top handrail member, means to attach said spacedmembers, to said top handrail member with the upper edges of said spacedmembers contacting the handrail member, casings of light transmittingmaterial, and of U-shape, between and engaging said spaced members, andhaving bottom and side walls, and located at the undersides of said topmember, lamps in said casings, and means to attach said lamps to saidtop handrail member.

18. The combination of claim 17, in combination with posts supportingsaid spaced members, and means to attach said spaced members to saidposts.

19. The combination of claim 17, the bottom and side walls of saidspaced members slidably receiving the ends of the bottom and side wallsof said casings.

20. The combination of claim 19, said top handrail member havingdownwardly opening grooves receiving the upper ends of said casings.

21. In combination, a straight, elongated top handrail member open atthe bottom, a fitting open at the top and at its ends, at the undersideof said handrail member, a casing of light transmitting material havingone end received in one end of said fitting, means to attach saidfitting to said handrail member, means attached to the underside of saidhandrail member and within said casing to support a fluorescent lamp,and an end cap attached to the other end of said fitting and closing oneend of said handrail member, and a post supporting said fitting betweenthe ends thereof.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,310,593 Orlicki Feb. 9, 1943 2,348,930 Schepmoes May 16, 19442,914,657 Akely et a1 Nov. 24, 1959 2,926,238 Anderson et al Feb. 23,1960 OTHER REFERENCES German application 1,042,758, printed Nov. 6, 1958(K1. 2-1f87).

